A compelling, fact-based defense of the content of Paul Ryan’s vice-presidential acceptance speech last night is impossible. The deception was so flagrant, so thorough, so sloppy, and so unending that, as one observer on Twitter put it, Politifact probably melted down.

That left those speaking up for Ryan to make a broader, more philosophical point about the inherently slippery nature of political rhetoric. Larry Sabato, the UVa professor and pundit, led the chargeon this front:

There is something to what Sabato is saying. It’s not like Ryan is the first speaker at a convention for either party (or even at this convention) to make wildly misleading and verifiably incorrect statements. Nor will he be the last. How much do you want to bet that at least one speaker in Charlotte next week rails against Mitt Romney for saying he likes to fire people?